The Higher Education (Monetary Penalties and Refusal to Renew an Access and Participation Plan) (England) Regulations 2019

Monetary penalties: matters to which the OfS must have regard

4.—(1) In exercising its power to impose a monetary penalty on a registered higher education provider under section 15(1) of the Act, in addition to any other matters it considers appropriate, the OfS must have regard to—

(a) the nature, seriousness, duration and impact of the relevant breach;

(b) any financial or other gain made by the provider as a result of the relevant breach which benefits the provider;

(c) any financial or other loss avoided as a result of the relevant breach which benefits the provider;

(d) where any gain described in sub-paragraph (b) or avoided loss described in sub-paragraph (c) can be quantified, the amount of any such gain or avoided loss;

(e) any previous breach of the provider’s ongoing registration conditions(1);

(f) any steps taken by the provider following the relevant breach to avoid a breach in the future of its ongoing registration conditions;

(g) the impact that imposing a monetary penalty on the provider is likely to have on—

(i) students on higher education courses at the provider,

(ii) students generally, or students of a particular description, on higher education courses provided by registered higher education providers.

(2) In this regulation “relevant breach” means a breach of one or more of a registered higher education provider’s ongoing registration conditions in respect of which the OfS is considering the imposition of a monetary penalty.

(1)

The OfS determines and publishes general ongoing registration conditions in accordance with section 5 of the Act. It may also provide that any of those conditions does not apply to a registered higher education provider in accordance with that section. The OfS may determine and impose a specific ongoing registration condition on a registered higher education provider in accordance with section 6 of the Act.